Sunday, January 19, 2014

1.19.14 Sunday Salon Slow reading

Happy Salon.

Reading this week: Slowly, slowly, slowly taking in The
Luminaries. I may get through it this week. I may not. Long dense book. So many
characters. So many small mysteries. A few large ones. Liking it as I read it. Not loving yet. Will see
how it all fits together.

Also listening to Pride and Prejudice on audiobook. I
confess to not having revisited this book (even in video form) since I was a
teenager. Even then, I was much more of a Bronte kid. Reading and rereading Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights. I'm not sure why. I think it may be because I was first introduced to Austen when I was 11 -- and too young. That tainted me a little. So it’s time. I am enjoying the Bennetts.

Which brings me to…… Although I haven’t formally committed the Classics challenge, I would
like to read – or reread – a few classics this year. So this is a good start.

Blogging: This week I will post my review ofWhere'd You Go Bernadette? Once again, I changed my mindas I figured out how to best frame the book for me. More to come.

I would also like
to post about reviews versus responses. I've come to prefer writing the latter after years of doing the former. I like to think reviews are mostly written for those who haven't read the book yet, responses for those who have. The response allows me to get deeper into the book -- to do more than summarize and tantalize. Both have their place. I just like writing responses -- and that means spoilers. As long as one is forewarned -- and the piece is properly labelled, I think that's okay.

11 comments:

Barb - Once you've reread P&P (Barbi does it regularly) try A&E's mini-series version with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth - on Netflix or Amazon. It is an absolutely delicious movie/series experience - there's a new release too. I got caught up in it when the girls would watch it back in the day. Now it is one of my top five movie experiences - and I've watched and enjoyed many thousands of firms over the years.

Interesting thoughts about reviews versus responses. I hadn't much thought about them as separate entities but you're right. I guess I use my book clubs for the response side and write reviews. And if book club doesn't read what I want to talk about, I bully a friend into it instead. ;-)

Well, even though I know we didn't agree about Where'd You Go Bernadette?, I'm still interested in hearing your thoughts on it. :) If you can believe it, I've never read Pride and Prejudice. No, really, I haven't.

I read all of Austen in my teens and enjoyed them as stories but didn't understand when people remarked on how witty she was. It wasn't until my thirties that I understood that about her work. Interesting distinction of reviews and responses. I suspect I blur them a bit.

Hey Karen, Thanks for your concern. I'm fine. Just in a major blogging funk. Every time I consider writing, I read instead. Not a bad thing. Just apparently where I am right now. I thought of you when I read The Luminaries. A book that requires a period of intense reading -- for me most of January, but in the end quite worth it. It's a Booker, of course. I can see why it was chosen. I think the way it bridges the early novel and the post modern novel is also quite fascinating and would fit nicely into your work on the history of the novel.

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